The Box
by shannyfish
Summary: Someone starts to go after the people who have helped the Arrow, threatening to kill them, but will it be the bad guys that kill them or each other...and will the Arrow save them in time?


_**Author's Note:** Takes place during Season 3, definitely before "The Climb"._

* * *

_"I don't care about whose DNA has recombined with whose. When everything goes to hell, the people who stand by you without flinching, they are your family." ~ Jim Butcher_

* * *

"Felicity! Laurel! Wake up you two!"

A groan escaped her lips and the pain that was in her head suddenly slammed into her reality. She reached up and then let out a loud yelp. "Touching is bad…" she mumbled. Her eyes slowly opened and she realized that opening her eyes only made the pain worse as her eyes took in the light, even though it was dim.

"I'll take you both breathing…everything else can heal," Lance responded.

"Unless they kill us…"

"No 'the Arrow is going to save us'?"

Felicity smiled slightly at that response. She loved that man. As a father. Quentin Lance had once scared her because she was afraid that he was going to throw her in jail because of her hacking, but now…now he expected things from her. It was a nice turnaround. "Oh, he's out there looking… I have no doubt."

"So much faith in him," Lance muttered. There was a pause. "Crap, I can't believe that I jumped on board that train…"

She let out a laugh and then groaned. The first year that Oliver was back in Starling City, Quentin Lance had been determined to bring in the Arrow (who was the vigilante or the Hood then). Now, they were practically partners. "What happened?"

"We got nabbed…which is embarrassing because I'm the captain of police…" Lance told her.

Felicity watched him as he seemed to be concerned about Laurel. For a moment, she felt a pang of jealousy. Maybe she had daddy issues. She'd gotten this far in life without him there. But there was something about Lance and how protective and almost loving he'd become of her over the years that lended to her seeing him as a father figure in her life. "I'm pretty sure that I have no memory of how they got me…or where…or when…for that matter."

"I was at the station… I had to be…"

There was a loud groan that escaped from Laurel and then mumbling. "Where are we?"

"In a box," Lance responded. "But we're going to get out."

He was confident.

Felicity liked confident.

Right now, she wasn't seeing a way out. Above them was a grate, which was apparently how they'd been dropped inside. It was the only source of light and likely air. The box was at least eight, if not ten feet above their heads. It wasn't like it was something to easily mess with. "Not on our own…" Felicity mumbled.

Laurel was moving around and on her feet, she seemed to be causing herself more pain in doing so, though. "Where do we even think we are?" Laurel questioned and turned to them.

She looked pissed. Felicity was more annoyed than pissed. Right now, she hurt, but it was nothing serious. Their lives weren't being threatened at the moment and they were all together. To Felicity, she saw these as all positive things. The three of them missing would seriously raise flags for Oliver and everyone would be searching for them. She wasn't worried.

"In a box," Lance repeated from where he sat a few feet away from Felicity.

"I'm being serious."

"So am I," Lance told her with a shrug. "Can't see anything up there," he said as he motioned upward to the grate.

"Aren't you worried?!"

"No," Felicity and Lance responded together. Felicity looked over at him to find him looking back with a grin on his face. "The Arrow—"

"Don't give me that crap! He has no idea where we are! He probably doesn't even know WHO took us!" Laurel exploded.

Felicity had noticed that Laurel was really a person who acted right away rather than thinking it through first. If given the opportunity to make the first move or to think about it, Laurel would always choose action over thought. Felicity always felt like that was such an odd quality with Laurel's occupation being an attorney. Somehow, though, Laurel had made it in the world since she was the Assistant District Attorney of Starling City now.

Ever since Sara's death, Felicity had noticed that Laurel was taking everything to an even greater extreme than before. She'd voiced her concern to Oliver, hell…they all had. As far as she was concerned, Laurel was not a stable person when it came to grieving for Sara. She understood needing to grieve and wanting to bring the person who killed her sister to justice…she did. Felicity had felt close to Sara and her death had hit her a lot harder than she probably would have thought it would have. As she sat there, though, it seemed like Quentin was taking it all so much better than Laurel was. It just didn't make sense in her head, but she knew that everyone coped and grieved in their own way…

Closing her eyes, she tried not to think too much about Sara because it just made her sad. It had hit her, though, that Lance had lost Sara multiple times now… He'd lost her when the Queen's Gambit went down…then pretty much again when Oliver came back and Sara didn't… when Sara went back with the League…when Sara had preferred killing herself over going back to kill for the League…and then when Sara had actually died… He hadn't even been able to be present at the funeral because Laurel had been too worried about how he would take it. That he would die because of the pain and anguish he'd feel over her death.

Death was like that.

Painful.

Crushing.

Confusing.

"Hey… Felicity… You okay?" Lance asked.

Felicity nodded and then opened her eyes as she pushed the tears away. "Yeah… Sorry…" Sara's death really wasn't an appropriate topic of conversation right now.

"We're going to get out of here—"

"I know."

"Then what's the problem?" he asked. His face changed a moment later, concern and worry washed hard over his features. "Wait… Are you okay? I just thought that you hit your head—"

"No! I'm fine… I mean, I hurt… It's not serious, though…" Felicity said. A moment later, she added in a whisper to herself. "That I know of anyway…" She turned her head away to look towards the other wall of the box. Felicity closed her eyes and wished for Oliver to hurry.

"Something's wrong—"

"Dad! She said she's fine," Laurel interjected, her voice like a razor.

"Aren't you two friends now?" Lance questioned. "I mean, you're both working with the Arrow, right?"

"Right," Laurel told him.

Silence.

"You two don't seem too…friendly…" Lance pointed out.

Silence.

"There's something going on here that I don't know about," Lance spoke up. "Wait. Please tell me that you're not dating the Arrow, Laurel… Baby, we know that you don't exactly have the best track record with men—"

"Dad! God! I'm an adult! I really don't need you lecturing me on who I can and cannot date… And no, for your information, we're not dating… We're just…friends…I guess," Laurel told him quickly.

"You guess?" Lance huffed. "It seems like you don't know how to qualify your relationships anymore… At least tell me that you're still going to your meetings…"

"Dad! Seriously?!"

"Aren't you two FRIENDS?" Lance questioned.

Oh man…

Felicity really hated to be in the middle of family fights.

"It probably depends on your definition," Felicity mumbled. She didn't turn to look at them, though. Felicity was trying to give them as much privacy as possible.

"What did you say?" Laurel asked.

Crap.

Felicity turned her attention to Laurel and Quentin. "What?"

"What. Did. You. Say?"

"Nothing," Felicity said quickly.

"You SAID something."

Oh crap.

Laurel was in super bitch mode apparently. Felicity just stared at her for a long moment. "Maybe we can just all take a deep breath and remember that everything's going to be fine…" Felicity suggested extremely calmly.

"Oh right! Fine! Sure! Let's just sit around and wait for Oliver to show up and save us…"

Felicity's mouth dropped open, especially because Laurel didn't seem to care that she was basically telling her father who the Arrow was. "Laurel," Felicity whispered and was going to say more, but she was cut off.

"Oliver's the Arrow! Is it really that big of a secret?!" Laurel bellowed. She was pacing back and forth. She seemed to be absolutely fuming. Felicity didn't understand why she was the one who was pissed, she was fairly sure that she had more right to be. "Doesn't pretty much EVERYONE else know?!"

Secrets were meant to be kept.

Laurel hadn't kept theirs.

"And I know exactly WHY you want me to keep quiet about the whole thing," Laurel said as she headed back for Felicity.

"Hey, leave her alone, Laurel…" Quentin said as he pulled her back lightly. "I think you hit your head a little too hard… Concussion maybe."

Her finger started to point accusingly at Felicity and her voice rose to shouting level. "It's because YOU think that you're going to somehow become Mrs. Oliver Queen! Well, think again! Not only does he not do commitment, but he cheats! Oh my God! Why have I been so stupid all of these years? Oliver's been the cause of EVERYTHING bad in my life… EVERYTHING."

Tears were flooding Felicity's face. Not because Laurel was out of control and yelling at her, but because Laurel didn't know anything… She didn't know anything about who Oliver REALLY was, she only thought she did. Felicity could have defended Oliver, but right now…she just didn't feel like it was right to do it in front of Quentin, not when maybe he would just think Laurel was crazy.

Sara.

Her heart clenched as she thought about what Laurel was saying. Felicity was just thankful that Oliver wasn't there to hear it all, but for this…Felicity couldn't stay quiet. "You can say everything else about Oliver, but you can't blame him for EVERYTHING bad that's happened in your life," she spoke up. She wasn't shouting, but she was upset and her voice broke here and there. "He is NOT responsible for Sara's death… All he's done is looked everywhere for her killer… Just because he doesn't go out and try to beat the answers out of whomever he THINKS might be guilty…that doesn't mean that he isn't doing anything…"

"Sara? Sara's dead?" Lance asked as he let go out Laurel.

Felicity's face turned to look at him. It looked like the blood had gone out of his face and he looked suddenly like every mask of pain and suffering flashed across his face in a matter of seconds. "You— You didn't know?" she asked as she suddenly felt like the worst person in the world. Laurel was supposed to have told him. It was bad enough that he hadn't attended the funeral that they'd held for Sara, but to not be told at all…

"Who do you think you are?!" Laurel blew up and she launched herself at Felicity. "You have no RIGHT!"

Quentin was pulling Laurel away from her. "You leave her alone, Laurel!"

Laurel's mouth dropped open in order to argue, but water started to fill the box. Instead, she let out a frightening scream as she moved to a wall in order to keep from being drenched in the water.

Felicity got to her feet and Quentin moved closer to her, both of their backs pressed against the wall as freezing water poured into the box from above. She lifted her head to see that it was being forced in through the grate. "That can't be good."

"I was thinking the same thing…" Lance told her. He reached out towards Laurel. "Come over here, Sweetie."

Laurel just shook her head, pressed against the opposite wall. "What are you two? BFFs now? She acts like she's your daughter…like she's Sara's sister… If you—"

"Damnit, Laurel, why can't you listen for once in your life?!" Quentin shouted angrily as he moved away from the wall, he grabbed Laurel's arm, and yanked her over to the wall with him and Felicity, placing her on the other side of him.

The water continued to pour in and Felicity realized that it might take a while for the box to fill up, but it was freezing… She wasn't sure if they'd be able to stand the temperature… None of them were dressed in anything that was going to keep them warm after being soaked through.

Oliver was coming.

Felicity looked over to Quentin, who was focusing on the water filling the box. She could see it, though, he was trying not to show his tears. Guilt rose in her. She couldn't believe that Laurel hadn't told him about Sara…and to hear it that way— "I'm sorry, I didn't know…that you didn't know…" she said quietly as she continued to study him.

"At least I know now, right?"

She didn't know if that was really better or not.

"She really loved you," Felicity whispered as tears filled her eyes. Laurel was right though, in a way, Felicity HAD thought of Sara more as a sister. They hadn't spent a whole lot of time together, but their time together had been like they'd known each other their whole lives. Felicity hadn't judged Sara's life in the League of Assassins or her past with Oliver, she knew that that had helped things. Sara had taught her so much… She still didn't know how to really process her death completely… Sometimes, she'd sit in the Foundry, she'd expect Sara to just randomly come in one night with the others. But Sara had never come…

The water was nearly to their knees.

"Tell me how she died," Quentin requested.

Felicity's eyes closed. She remembered when they'd walked into the Foundry to find Sara lying on their table with the arrows sticking out of her…her eyes still open… Felicity had wanted it to be a nightmare…for it to be a mistake…for them to be able to save her… She was beyond saving at that point…

"I had just seen her," Laurel spoke up quietly. She seemed calmer…maybe even clearer. "She was going to see you before she left the city…and I had left her on the rooftop and—and—"

It didn't seem like Laurel was going to be able to tell him what happened. Felicity didn't blame her. Her voice broke as she spoke and tears fell down her cheeks, but Felicity pushed it out. "She was shot…with arrows… Laurel brought her to us… We buried her…"

"You buried her?" Quentin question and there seemed to be relief in his voice. There was a long pause before he spoke again. "Where?"

"The empty grave…from when the Queen's Gambit went down," Felicity supplied. "We've been working the case ever since it happened…"

* * *

"It's been…two hours."

She supposed that at least he was wearing a waterproof watch and keeping track of time. Felicity's watch had gotten wet and had stopped. She wasn't very happy about that, it was a nice watch…and she had really loved it.

"The Arrow…will be here," Felicity said quietly.

"Why do you keep calling him that? Just use his name!" Laurel spat out, but the words were slurred and sloppy.

Felicity closed her eyes and sighed, her back was pressed against the wall and she was getting so tired of standing. The water was waist high now. They really didn't have much other choice. She hated that Laurel just blurted out Oliver's secret, but she knew that Laurel likely had a concussion by how crazy she was acting. At one point she'd sobbed hysterically out of nowhere for what felt like an hour straight, but Felicity was fairly sure that it had only really been ten or fifteen minutes. Oliver really couldn't get there soon enough as far as she was concerned.

"OLIVER QUEEN!" Laurel shouted, her words still slurred.

This was how people killed each other in these situations. She was half surprised that Quentin had had so much patience with her, but it probably came with being her father. Felicity just tried to think of something else. She was completely frozen. Felicity could no longer feel her toes and even the unsoaked parts of her body felt like they'd already been drenched in the ice cold water. She was tired and she was so done with Laurel.

"Felicity?"

She ignored Lance's voice and allowed herself to relax. Felicity was exhausted and she really just wanted to sleep. She felt like her shivering was never going to cease, not until she turned into a human ice cube. Her legs started to give way, she felt herself being hauled back to her feet before her chin could hit the water.

"Felicity!"

Her eyes popped open and she looked over at Lance. She wanted to cry, but she couldn't. Felicity didn't know what to say… She wanted to say that the Arrow was coming, but what if he wasn't? What if Oliver couldn't find them? Felicity just stared at him for a long moment instead.

"You got to stay awake, okay?" Lance requested. "I NEED you."

Felicity nodded and though she found it hard to keep her eyes open, she did. "You're…you're…you're not going to…arrest…him, are you?" she managed to push out. It was all Felicity had been worrying about. She hadn't really even worried about being in there so much, but with all that Laurel had said…

"Did he kill Sara?"

"No."

"Do you still believe in him as much as you did the first time we met?"

Felicity smiled a little as she thought about that. Oh, how things had changed since then. "I do." She paused as she rethought her answer. "Even more so now…"

"That's enough for me," he told her. He was quiet for a while. "Also…" Quentin told her as he looked over to her. "I already knew about Oliver being the Arrow…" he whispered and added a smile in there at the end. "I'm a detective…or I was…"

"You still ARE," Felicity told him sleepily.

She realized that Laurel had gone quiet. Normally, Felicity wouldn't argue about this, especially after the two hours stuck in that box with her. With her hand still pressed against the wall, she peered past Quentin, who seemed to catch on to her concern. Lance grabbed her and started to shake his daughter before Felicity could even move.

"Laurel! Wake up! Come on, Baby!" Lance shouted.

Laurel didn't wake up though.

Felicity moved to be closer to Quentin's side. She helped him hold up Laurel. "She's breathing," she observed. "Right now… Maybe this is better for her…" And us, she thought a bit guiltily. Felicity knew that it wasn't nice, but really…for their SANITY…it was better that Laurel stay unconscious. "We can keep her above water between the two of us," Felicity told him slowly.

"You two aren't friends, are you?"

She shook her head. "Not unless she needs something…at least as far as I know."

Lance sighed. "You'd be a good influence." There was a pause. "Was Laurel right about you and Sara?"

"That we were friends?" Felicity asked and then nodded a moment later. "She was a good friend… I liked to think we were close, especially for how long we'd known each other."

"I'm glad that you got to know her."

"I am too."

* * *

Treading water was much easier than the three of them all keeping a float. Felicity was not helping Lance at all with things, she knew that, but at the same time…she couldn't help it. All three of them had started to fall asleep. They'd all hit their heads at one point, but Laurel was the only one who had passed out and hadn't woken back up. She knew that Lance was worried, but at the same time, it was still nice not to have her out of control screaming and flailing.

"He's sure taking his time," Lance muttered.

All three of them was soaked. They'd all gone underwater at one time when both Quentin and Felicity had passed out, but as soon as they'd gone underwater they'd gotten right back up. Felicity wanted to be positive, but right now…it was extremely hard. She could barely keep her eyes open. It wasn't just HER life on the line…they all had to work together to keep each other alive.

"I'll have to talk to him about that…" she mumbled.

Her eyes kept closing and then opening a moment later as her whole body shook, almost to scare herself to stay awake. It was so hard, though. Her entire being felt frozen. It took so much effort to more her limbs and they seemed to just barely be floating. The water was nearly to the top of the box and Felicity didn't know what to think…what to be prepared for…

Suddenly, the water stopped.

Felicity thought that they were probably just going to watch as they each drown on their own. Above them, she thought she saw someone standing there. There was no noise. No vocalization. She wanted it to be the calvary. Oliver, Diggle, and Roy were long overdue at this point…or even Starling City Police Department.

"You…you…don't give…up," Lance told her quietly.

She heard his words.

Felicity didn't respond.

Her eyes were heavy and her vision was blurring. Felicity didn't think she could hang on much longer. If she could cry at this point, she would… Above her, a shadow loomed and she waited…expecting it to be their captors trying to kill them or do something else, but it just froze over them for what seemed like forever.

"Hold on."

The voice was muffled and Felicity kept blinking her eyes, watching the shadow over them. Had help finally arrived? Or was it their captors? Felicity couldn't focus in order to be sure. There was movement in the water and Laurel was removed from between her and Lance. She still didn't know what to think. All Felicity knew was something was happening and they really didn't have any ability at that moment to do anything about it or to assist (depending on who was above them).

"No you don't, Dad!"

Felicity's blinked wildly as she was a bit violently swayed about and it seemed the water was being disturbed. In what way, she didn't know, all she knew was that whatever was happening, they had no control over it…all they could do was to hope for the best.

Hope.

* * *

"He's going to be pissed, you know…"

The voice was familiar.

The sound of beeping caught her attention as she struggled to wake up. Felicity slowly started to become aware of other things… First, that she was cold and she realized that she had been MUCH colder. Memories of being in the box that filled with icy water filled her mind.

"Quentin—"

"He's going to be fine."

"Laurel—"

"She's already up and walking… You and Dad just seem to think that sleeping is a good plan."

Dad.

Dad…

Laurel only had ONE sister.

Sara.

No, Sara was dead.

This was a dream…

A hallucination…

Or maybe she'd died.

Maybe she had died in that icy water in that box.

Felicity's eyes slowly slid open. Staring back at her were a pair of sparkling blue eyes that were enhanced by a bright smile. Blinking, she tried to ensure that she wasn't hallucinating, though she was still going to consider it a possibility. "Hi," Felicity managed to get out just barely.

"Hi sleepy head," Sara replied back.

"How—"

"It's a long story, but I'm glad that I was where I was when I was…" Sara told her. She was dressed casually, not as the Canary, but Felicity suspected that that's how she was dressed when she fished them out.

"Oliver—"

"He's on his way and pissed," Sara confessed. "For…multiple…reasons…"

"He should be happy for multiple reasons…" Felicity argued. She pushed herself up in the bed, which was a tad bit difficult as her limbs and joints still seemed frozen. Felicity launched herself forward, her arms wrapping around Sara. "Thank you. For saving us."

"Anytime."

Whatever had happened to Sara, however she came to be back with them…Felicity was thankful. She heard the door open and looked over to see not only Laurel enter, but Oliver and Diggle as well.

"Got to…stay awake…" Lance mumbled.

Felicity looked over to see that Quentin Lance was in the bed next to her. Sara pulled away from her, giving her a smile, and then moved to her father's side. She looked to Laurel, who immediately looked away and hurried towards Lance's bed. Felicity knew that Laurel had been concussed, but it definitely had not been a pleasant experience for any of them.

"Hey," Oliver said as he sat where Sara had sat.

Felicity noticed that his eyes were on Sara, she wondered if he and Digg knew what had happened or if they were still in the dark about things. She reached out and took his hand in hers. "We're all okay."

"All of us," Oliver said, still staring at Sara. He turned back to look at her before squeezing her hand. "For that. I am so thankful."

"We promise we were looking," Diggle spoke up. "Still don't know who those guys were…"

"They just better stay far away from Starling City," Lance spoke up angrily.

Felicity grinned. Obviously, he was going to be okay, too. They had all gotten off lucky. This time, at least. It hit her all of the sudden that Laurel had told her father about Oliver's identity. Her face dropped and she opened her mouth to tell him when two of his fingers covered her lips.

"I already know." He leaned in and kissed her forehead, easing her worry lines. "We're all going to be okay, remember? All of us?" Oliver was quiet now and it was like it was just the two of them there. His voice was barely a whisper. "I don't know what I would have done if Sara hadn't been there to save you…if I'd lost you…"

"You're never going to find out."

* * *

The End.


End file.
